Djokovic cruises into third round after dispatching Evans

For nearly two decades, Novak Djokovic has spent his time crushing the hopes and dreams of all of his adversaries while in pursuit of his own lofty goals.

- Tumaini Carayol

He did so again on Centre Court, ensuring there would be no fairytale ending to Dan Evans' encouraging grass-court season as he marched into the third round of Wimbledon with a devastating performance and dominant win.

"He can be causing a lot of trouble for you if you're not on the top of your game, which I think I was from the very beginning," said Djokovic, the sixth seed. "I was preparing well for the match. Technically, tactically, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I executed perfectly – sometimes you have these kinds of days."

In a tournament that has hosted 23 British singles players, the most in a generation, Evans has surprisingly been one of the most interesting British stories of all. Having spent a large part of the past seven years firmly inside the top 50, rising to a career high of 21 in 2023, last year the 35-year-old tumbled down the rankings. He fell as low as 217 last month.

For most of the past year, Evans has been forced to compete on the ATP Challenger circuit, but he continued to struggle even against much lower-ranked opponents. Before the tournament, he spoke with great emotion about his doubts and struggles during this period, particularly the feeling that he was letting his family and team members down.